Table tennis team rallying success

The Tufts PingPong Club's unsuccessful trial semester three years ago seem to doom attempts to have a team for tennis' more space-efficient little brother.

The team recently revived itself, however, under new tutelage and bearing a new name. The Tufts Table Tennis Club is going strong -- and competing as a club sport against other schools -- as one of the University's fastest growing athletic and student groups.

"We're averaging one to two new players each week," sophomore captain and founder Mike Sparandara said. "There are at least 40 players on our team, and regularly at each practice we get at least ten players for our two tables."

Through Sparandara's efforts, the co-ed team recently acquired two new competition tables for its practices, which take place bi-weekly in Cousens Gym. Sparandara is also confident more equipment will be on the way.

"We have made it through our one-year probationary period," Sparandara said of the his club's completion of Tufts' required trial period for all new student organizations. "Now, we can apply for a real budget, which will hopefully mean a lot more funding, which means more possibilities."

The new tables and practices have produced returns for the Jumbos who, just two weeks ago, dropped Brown in league play in their first spring semester tournament at Harvard. The team went 1-2 at the tournament and has compiled a 4-7 record on the year, a notable improvement from the Jumbos' 1-6 performance last season.

"The players we're getting now are pretty good," Sparandara continued. "Tufts is drawing a lot of international students, and more are coming out for our practices. [The foreign students] usually have a better understanding [of] the sport."

The change from a pingpong club to a table tennis one is more than just a change in name. Traditional American pickup pingpong rules do not apply in table tennis. For instance, official table tennis matches are played to 11, not 21, in best of five sets. Also, serves cannot be hit out of the players' hands; they most be tossed with an open palm six inches into the air before being struck. In addition, the player may not position his body over the end of the table.

Team tournaments are organized similarly to team tennis match-ups; the team's top four players are ranked and play in the first through fourth positions as singles. The fifth and sixth positions play a doubles match, and players may not be played out of order. Unlike tennis, at any given tournament a team will face off against anywhere between two and five other schools. A win in each event counts as one point for the team.

The Jumbos are in the New England division of the National College Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) -- an organization created because the NCAA does not recognize table tennis as an official varsity sport -- has over 15 schools, all competing at Harvard's Malkin Athletic Center.

At their recent February tournament, the team faced off against league-competitors Brown, Boston University and Northeastern University, and this season have played against other rivals such as Wesleyan and MIT.

For the purpose of encouraging interest in the sport and for attracting competitive players, the team holds a bi-annual pingpong competition on campus. For familiarity purposes, pickup pingpong rules are used; games are played to 21, although the winner must take the best of three matches.

"It's a way for us to recruit for our team," Sparandara said. "After the tournament, we usually get five to ten new players. It creates excitement for the sport here at Tufts." The team had 71 entrants in last fall's tournament.

Sparandara insists, however, that the team is not exclusive, and that players of all calibers can still be involved. For that reason, the team is divided into two sections -- players who want to compete in NCTTA league play, and those who simply enjoy playing pingpong.